Advertising vs. Authenticity: The NFL's "No More" Commercial

Adweek published a clever video featuring young women watching Superbowl ads, then speaking candidly after each one.  The big idea of the video was to demonstrate, through the womens' negative reactions to many of the ads, that the majority of commercials aired during the big game aren't targeted at their gender, despite the fact that more of them are watching now than ever.

One thing that caught my attention, though, was the way one of them called out the No More example (The NFL's own ad about the shame of domestic violence).  The young woman said "Even though this message is super powerful, if they actually wanted to do something, they should fire these men that abuse their wives."  She is no doubt referring to Ray Rice, the Baltimore Raven running back who faced a mere two-game suspension from the NFL after a video of him knocking his wife unconscious in an elevator went viral in the Fall of 2014.

The Adweek video is just one example of the online blacklash the league has received for the ad.  Deadspin called the No More commercial a "Sham."  The New Yorker, in another article on the topic, said the NFL "has a long history of ignoring off-field issues.. and it doesn't appear to be changing its ways just yet."  From a Marketing perspective, I find this so interesting because although the ad had a positive message -- that domestic violence is often hidden, its victims trapped, and that we need to listen to those who may be in trouble  -- audiences didn't buy it, and took to social media to talk about it.

After the Ray Rice debacle, Roger Gooddell said "We will get our house in order," hinting that the NFL will crack down on domestic violence from the inside.  But, because we haven't seen the fruits of that labor, the No More ad was seen as more of a PR stunt than as a public service announcement.  And although the league may be actively working to right its wrongs, maybe it should wait until it can show real results to start preaching about the issue.